COMMISSION: Thomas Liljeholm, through the award ”Musikens Möjliggörare” by the Swedish Composers’ Society

ABOUT: Arching consists of a dialogue between the cello and the tools that constructed the instrument. The overall goal of the luthier is to create a brilliant and balanced timbre once the instrument is finished. But well before the cello is an instrument ready to play it generates a multitude of intricate sounds, that appear as a dialogue between the wooden material and the carefully chosen tools. My aim was to focus on the tools that are used in the different parts of the construction process, and to explore the broad spectrum of timbres and musical actions that are possible when the cello interacts with the motions of saws, rasps, markers and files.